Tortas Gigantes, Norcross GA

On the southwest corner of Singleton Road and Indian Trail, on the Indian Trail side of the road, there is a small strip mall. In it is Tortas Gigantas, whose bright sign has been catching my eye as I’ve been commuting home. Indian Trail has evolved culinarily. A lot of chain eateries are gone, and it is a diverse ethnic mix of Vietnamese and Hispanic places that are replacing what was there.

Inside, it’s small, neat and clean, perhaps 7 tables total. You order at a counter top and wait to receive your food. They serve a lot more than just tortas (literally “cakes”, but in this context, “sandwiches”). Tortas Gigantes advertises itself as “La casa de la King Torta” or “home of the King Torta”, but they also serve tacos, burritos, quesadillas, flautas, and fajitas. They don’t serve many vegetables. You’ll need to head to a farmer’s market for those.

Nothing is expensive here. I had the Texana Torta, a mix of beef, chorizo, and cheese. It’s a huge sandwich. I ate half of it, scraped the filling away from the bread and finished that as well. There was a salsa bar next to the Coke dispenser (out of ice), and in that bar were some great looking grilled jalapeno peppers. I took one of those too. Needed the veggies.

This is a classic inexpensive Mexican eatery of the kind that have been popping up at least the past five years or so. The tacos at this place run $1.50 and I promise would be more tasty and flavorful than any you could get at the large chains. Popular here were the lengua tacos. I saw plenty of men ordering and eating them. There was a steady stream of men, in soft shirts and jeans, ordering food here. On the walls were televisions, showing the Hispanic equivalent of Judge Judy, ordering law down on people with “WTF?” expressions.

As for me, it was a good meal for less than $9.00. Chalk one positive for the ethnographic shift in Atlanta. If you can embrace the change, it’s a win for the tummy and the pocketbook.